An executive vice president at Marvel Studios has promised that future films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will not use a digital replica of the late Chadwick Boseman.
Victoria Alonso, executive producer onBlack Panther,spoke on the subject in a Spanish-language interview with the Argentinean newspaperClarin. “There’s only one Chadwick and he’s not with us,” Alonso said, in response to a question specifically about the possibility of using a digital double for Boseman. “Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to history and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us.”
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Marvel has yet to officially confirm what will happen withBlack Panther 2in the wake of Boseman’s passing.Rumors persist that the sequel will shift gearsand refocus on Letitia Wright’s Shuri, T’Challa’s sister, as she ends up with the throne of Wakanda, as was briefly the case in the comics. Various members of theBPcast and crew have consistently said in interviews that they’re still very much in mourning for Boseman and have not yet made any decisions, while the film’s production is still delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boseman passed away in August, following a four-year struggle with colon cancer. He kept his diagnosis and treatment a closely guarded secret, even while he continued to work on and star in films. Only a handful of people outside his family knew he was sick at all, none of whom worked at or with Marvel, and his death took everyone involved by surprise. (When watching any of Boseman’s interviews, appearances, orfilm roles from 2016 to 2020, keep that in mind: that man is undergoingchemotherapy.)
Alonso’s official job title at Marvel Studios is Executive Vice President of Production. Originally from Buenos Aires, she’s credited as a producer or executive producer on many films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe going all the way back to the firstIron Manin 2008. She’s also listed as an executive producer onBlack Widow,Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3,andThor: Love and Thunder.Alonso began working in film as a visual effects producer on films such as50 First Dates, Big Fish, Darkness Falls, Kingdom of Heaven,and the 2000 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicleThe 6thDay.
Boseman’s final film,Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,isscheduled to premiere on Netflixin December. Co-starring Viola Davis and set in 1920s Chicago, the movie is an adaptation of August Wilson’s award-winning 1982 play. Boseman, who wrote four plays of his own early in his career, plays Levee, an ambitious trumpet player who clashes with Davis’s blues singer Ma Rainey during a tense recording session.
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